There is a silent and dangerous trend that has permeated the dog world for as long as dogs have switched over to companion animals. Hundreds of years ago dogs started the move from work and function to purely companion as their jobs were replaced.

Although I consider it a form of abuse, it most often happens with dogs in the most well meaning homes. Many people do not even realize what they are doing to their dogs. But often they are loving their dogs stupid. This incendiary process is unlike any other, as it does not involve neglect or mistreatment as we know it. In our overly human desire to give them the best in sharing our lives, people indulge the dog in every way…….. but neglect that we owe them a BRAIN. This irritates me to no end.

How do you assume any creature, when brought out of its own private environment, would not need education about the new environment???. Imagine moving to a foreign country and instead of helping you learn what to do in your new environment, all the locals did was hugged, kissed and fed you. They also gave you multiple choice on where the bathroom might be, never directing you, but bringing you to all these places. Then they yelled if you chose the wrong one……. Pretty useless?? Or if you raised a child and held that child in your arms till he/she were 21 years old…..no school, no friends, just there for YOU to love. Educational awareness of what is expected behavior and response, is the hallmark of what we owe the dog. To do anything else is to hold a dog captive for our own pleasure, like the proverbial “bird in a gilded cage”. These are unique beings that deserve to be the best they can be, like anything else on earth.

The dangerous part of the “dumbing of the dogs” is that their safety is compromised by not being trained and taught language. Response to commands is a safety mechanism and a structural mechanism for good behavior in the community. These dogs get hit by cars, bite people for lack of socialization, end up in shelters for not understanding appropriate behavior. Why? All for the benefit of the human who decided the dog was there to fill a void in that persons life or simply was not putting the dogs needs before their own. Thereby denying the dog a life of his own, and in the worse case scenario causing them their lives.

Having a dog is no different than having a child. Teaching manners, setting rules, giving love through learning and preparing them for the world is what we do for our kids. So the oddest thing to me is that most people who “dumb their dogs” truly may love them, treat them like family, but in a negative way. Why not give them the true family experience…… independence, structure and SMARTS. The reason animals have the ability to learn is because it is essential to their survival. And frankly, it is their RIGHT to learn.

We as dog owners owe the dog the chance to learn as much as possible. They didn’t ask to be taken home and used as a surrogate for a missing child, boyfriend, girlfriend, babe magnet, or any other person missing in our lives. This is on their “Bill of Dog Rights”. “I am to be trained and taught” is something we all signed on for. Their lives often depend on it. Not only should they learn….but they should learn as much as they can. Most dogs in shelters and rescues are there for no other reason than simply never being taught how to act appropriately in the community. This is often because in order to “dumb” a dog……it means you are spoiling the poor thing to death.

I fragment, który rozśmieszył mnie do łez :

People who say “Dogs should be dogs”….WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN????